Cycling: Vinokourov to become general manager of Astana cycling team

Kazakhstan cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov said that would start managing Astana cycling team in September, Tengrinews.kz reports, citing Sport.kz. “Concerning our plans for the future: we are negotiating with Kazakhstan Cycling Federation now. It’s most likely that I will take the lead of Astana cycling team. I will change my status of a cyclist to the status of a team manager. We will be raising future champions. I expect to be officially introduced in the beginning of September when I return to Kazakhstan. The President wanted to do it personally,” Vinokourov said. “We have set high level goals for Astana team. We will try to win Giro d’Italia next year,” he added. Giuseppe Martinelli is the general manager of Astana team at present. Martinelli became the manager of the cycling team in 2011, replacing Yvon Sanquer.